Ratings News - 7th March 2011

Sunday 3/06/11
Note: The overnight data now includes DVR playback until 3 a.m. local time. One year earlier it was based on Live data only.

HH
Rtg/Shr
CBS 7.1/11
ABC 6.7/11
NBC 4.6/ 7
Fox 3.1/ 5

-Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Sunday, March 7, 2010):
Note: ABC aired The 82nd Annual Academy Awards on the year-ago evening.
NBC: +70, CBS: +69, Fox: +11, ABC: -71

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Note: The fast affiliate results for Sunday will be posted at PIFeedback.com by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Sunday, March 7, 2011.

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-Yesterday’s Winners:
60 Minutes (CBS), Secret Millionaire (ABC)

-Down but Not Out:
Desperate Housewives (ABC)

-Honorable Mention:
Celebrity Apprentice (NBC), Undercover Boss (CBS), CSI: Miami (CBS)

-Yesterday’s Losers:
America’s Next Great Restaurant (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
CBS led the Sunday overnights, but its advantage over second-place ABC was only six percent. Third overall was NBC with Fox in the No. 4 position. Fox’s strength, of course, is dependent on the young adult demos.

In series-premiere news, NBC reality/competition America’s Next Great Restaurant did not live up to its optimistic title, with a last-place 3.3 rating/5 share in the overnights at 8 p.m. While this was close to lead-in Dateline (#3: 3.5/ 6 at 7 p.m.), for a launch it is a complete bust. Competing ABC fared considerably better with the network premiere of inspirational non-scripted Secret Millionaire at a dominant 8.3/13 at 8 p.m. Comparably, this was up by double-digits from recent occupant Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and the growth out of veteran America’s Funniest Home Videos (#2: 4.7/ 8 at 7 p.m.) was a hefty 77 percent.

Leading out of Secret Millionaire on ABC was the aging combination of Desperate Housewives, which won the 9 p.m. hour with a diluted 8.0/12 in the overnights, followed by Brothers & Sisters at a last-place 5.8/10. Comparably, that put retention for Brothers & Sisters out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of Desperate Housewives (7.9/12) at 73 percent.

In season-premiere news, NBC’s well-casted Celebrity Apprentice was on the map with a 5.7/ 9 from 9-11 p.m., with gains by half-hour as follows:

Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
9:00 p.m.: 5.1/ 8 (#3)
9:30 p.m.: 5.6/ 8 (#3)
10:00 p.m.: 5.9/10 (#3)
10:30 p.m.: 6.4/11 (#2)

Growth for Celebrity Apprentice out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of America’s Next Great Restaurant (3.4/ 5) was a considerable 68 percent. And there is every reason to believe that Celebrity Apprentice will win the 10 p.m. hour among adults 18-49. SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you did not see the episode yet. But the departure of nice guy David Cassidy over conniving Richard Hatch only proves that Donald Trump and the producers are more interested in who makes better reality television than who deserves to stay.

Over at CBS, older-skewing 60 Minutes opened the evening on a winning overnight note at a 9.1/15 in the overnights at 7 p.m. While that will probably not be enough to win the time period demographically, older viewers are also worthy of accolades. Next on CBS was demo friendly The Amazing Race (#2: 6.2/10 at 8 p.m.), which trailed Secret Millionaire on ABC by 25 percent in the overnights, followed by Undercover Boss (#2: 6.7/10), which is not the force it once was, and veteran CSI: Miami (#1: 6.6/11) from 9-11 p.m.

Fox filled the 7 p.m. hour with repeats of The Simpsons and American Dad (#4: 2.3/ 4 each), followed by the original 8-10 p.m. animated rotation as follows:

Fox/Sunday
8:00 p.m. – The Simpsons: 3.9/ 6 (#3)
8:30 p.m. – Bob’s Burgers: 3.1/ 5 (#4)
9:00 p.m. – Family Guy: 4.3/ 6 (#4)
9:30 p.m. – The Cleveland Show: 3.0/ 5 (#4)

From an overnight standpoint Fox does not look like all that much. But let’s see what the demos look like before drawing any premature conclusions.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: pifeedback